One of the irritations I have with beekeeping and have mentioned more than once is that the equipment rarely comes with instructions and if it does, you need a magic elf from the fiery marshes of Bee Vale to decipher it. We used to jam pack our smoker with every type of natural fiber, light it with a brulee torch and hope for the best. But Mr. Neil found an article in Bee Culture on lighting a smoker and we thought we’d make a demo video…on the off chance some poor person is like us and thinks they need a new smoker.
And for those new to the blog, you use a smoker around your beehives to misdirect their attention. They smell wood smoke and worry there might be a forest fire. They focus on eating honey (not the giant things rearranging their home) in case there is an actual forest fire and they need to abandon the hive with only enough food they can carry in their tiny bodies. Some beekeepers say they would rather work a hive with a smoker and no bee suit rather than the other way around.
You can also use the smell of the smoker to mask the bee pheromone released with a sting. The pheromone communicates to nearby bee, “Hey, something bad is here, sting it!” The smoke will mask that and prevent further stings.
Is this the origin of the phrase “blowing smoke up their ass?”
…and then what happened?
happy birthday…love the post on the wrens also. thanks for sharing
so glad that you have what smoke really does to / for bees. I’m so tired of people saying “it calms bees.” Nope!
We’ve found rosemary burns cool and makes a great smoke. Have heard that eucalyptus leaves also work great and the smoke is toxic to V. destructor. (and eucalyptus is plentiful here!)
And love the little dalek smoker! fumigate! fumigate!
Do you usually use pine needles and paper? Once I started keeping bees in the city, I realized there wasn’t much around to stuff in my smoker, so I tried using hamster bedding-the aspen shavings you can buy in a big bag at the pet store for $5.00 and it’s wonderful. But other ideas would be great too.
We used to use cedar bedding but Neil read an article that the smoke could be harmful to humans and bees. I know it’s not good for small animals as their urine and wood bedding can create fumes that cause respiratory problems. You can also use sumac heads too.
That’s interesting about eucalyptus and varroa mites, alas eucalyptus isn’t too plentiful in the north
And from now on I’m going to refer to our smoker as a dalek!
Neat video–I had to learn the hard way how to start the smoker. It kept going out because I would close it up too soon. I use rolled up cardboard for fuel now–the air space is perfect to get a good draw with a nice cool smoke. My mentor told me to not smoke too much as the bees will gorge on honey.
Also, I wonder about putting honey that close to the hive. I did that last year and it initiated robbing by other bees. That hive, though, was weak so it couldn’t protect itself. That may be why those bees were feisty. My mentor said to put any frames or excess honey far from the hive. The bees will find it anyway and it won’t prompt robbing.
were they about to swarm?
Once again…I learned something new here! I love the blogosphere!
Should beekeeping be on my List of Things That Need to Happen to Me Before I Die?
IS there any truth to the eucalyptus leaves? The dreaded varroa!!!!